1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a modular power supply and more particularly to a power supply having standard structure and is engageable with various connectors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The main function of a power supply in the art is to convert alternate current electricity (AC) from a power source into direct current electricity (DC) for powering electric or electronic devices desired. Generally, conventional power supplies may be categorized into a two-port power supply 10 as shown in FIG. 1A and a three-port power supply 20 as shown in FIG. 1B. However, both types of the power supplies are usually constructed similarly, including respectively a first and a second lower cases 11 and 21, a first and a second upper cases 12 and 22, a first and a second circuit boards 13 and 23 housed in a space formed between the lower and the upper cases, a first and a second wire openings 15 and 25 for connecting with an electrical device desired and a first and a second socket openings 16 and 26 for connecting with an external AC source. The main difference of above two types of power supplies is based on that the power supply 10 in FIG. 1A uses a first two-port socket 14, whereas the power supply 26FIG. 1B uses a first three-port socket 24.
The first two-port socket 14 has a pair of spaced first terminals 141 engageable with a pair of first terminal bores 131 formed in the first circuit board 13 and a first two-port cavity 142 for connecting with a two-port type of connector to an AC source.
The second three-port socket 24 has a pair of spaced second terminals 241 engageable with a pair of second terminals bores 231 formed in the second circuit board 23, a second ground terminal 242 engageable with a second ground bore 232 in the second circuit board 23 and a second three-port cavity 243 for connecting with a three-port type of connector to an AC source.
The key difference between the two-port power supply 10 and the three port power supply 20 is the absence or existence of the ground terminal. To meet that difference, different toolings have to be set up for production. Thereby, the cost of production and maintenance is inevitably increased, and also the difference results in an interchangeable problem, which becomes an annoyance to most users.